When the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders hits the stores on May 22nd, it will signal the end of a fraught thirteen-year campaign. Every revision of the D.S.M. causes controversy; that’s what happens when experts argue in public about the nature of human suffering. But never has the process provoked warfare so brutal, with attacks coming from within the profession as well from psychiatry’s usual opponents. Indeed, it’s possible that no book has ever been subject to such scrutiny in the course of being written. It is as if J. K. Rowling had produced her Harry Potter sequels in a glass studio with fans looking on and banging the windows whenever she typed something they didn’t like.

All the critics seem to agree on one thing, which is that the D.S.M.-5 will “extend the reach of psychiatry” further into daily life. That complaint has even united the psychiatrist who ran the last revision with the Church of Scientology. The new book will make many more of us eligible for psychiatric diagnoses, they argue, and thus for even more drugs than we are already taking. (More than ten per cent of American adults take antidepressants.)

But there is little reason to think that a new D.S.M. will increase the prevalence of mental-disorder diagnoses, and less to think that we will ever really know how many people are sick. Psychiatrists have never been able to establish the line between mental health and mental illness. As a result, ever since 1840, when the U.S. Census Office first asked states for an accounting of the mentally ill, doctors have been hard pressed to know how to supply it. Most counting methods have yielded suspicious results. The 1961 Midtown Manhattan Study, for instance, indicated that nearly eighty-five per cent of New Yorkers had some degree of mental disorder, a number that beggars common sense, unless perhaps you’re a Woody Allen fan.

The first edition of the D.S.M., published in 1952, was in effect at the time of the Midtown Manhattan study, but the researchers did not use it. They weren’t as interested in counting the mentally ill as they were in how many people suffered psychological distress of any kind or degree, and even if they had been, the disorders it listed did not have criteria that could easily be turned into survey questions. But the D.S.M.-III, issued in 1980, provided a set of criteria for each disorder (as has every D.S.M. since then), and epidemiologists almost immediately created test instruments keyed to the new manual. In 1992, they concluded that about twenty-two per cent of Americans would qualify for a D.S.M.-III diagnosis in any given year, and thirty-three per cent of us in our lifetimes. By that time, however, the D.S.M.-IIIR (“R” for “revision”) had been published, and, in 1994, a different research group, using the newer manual and an entirely different survey, turned up a one-year prevalence of 29.5 per cent and a lifetime prevalence of forty-eight per cent. That study came out just in time for the A.P.A. to release yet another manual, the D.S.M.-IV. And in 2005, researchers using the D.S.M.-IV found rates of twenty-six per cent in a year and forty-six per cent lifetime.

No one knows exactly what effect, if any, revisions to the D.S.M. have on these numbers. According to Ronald Kessler, the Harvard epidemiologist who ran the 1994 and 2005 projects, this “wasn’t a question we set out to answer.” Questioning all patients with both sets of criteria and then analyzing the results was an undertaking that would have distracted from other efforts, and, he adds, D.S.M.-related overdiagnosis just wasn’t a “burning issue” at the time. It is now, of course, but the A.P.A. didn’t directly address the question as it field-tested the D.S.M.-5.

Still, some tentative conclusions can be drawn. Michael First, a psychiatrist at Columbia and leading D.S.M. researcher, thinks the sharp increase between the D.S.M.-III and the D.S.M.-IIIR results has little to do with changes to the manual. “The prevalence appears to have changed,” he told me, “but this is most likely due to the differences between the instruments used to conduct the study.” N.Y.U.’s Jerome Wakefield, who has closely compared the two studies, explained that the earlier study “seemed to have a glitch. Subjects realized that if they answered yes to a general question they would then be asked a lot of detailed questions on the same subject, so they tended to say no as the interview wore on.” In the D.S.M.-IIIR study, researchers asked all the general questions up front and then moved on to specifics. Researchers used the same approach in the D.S.M.-IV study, and although the manual had added such popular diagnoses as Asperger’s syndrome and relaxed criteria for bipolar disorder and A.D.H.D., the overall prevalence barely budged. How many of us qualify as mentally ill appears to have more to do with how you count than with how many diagnoses are available.

The D.S.M.-5 is not likely to change that. Nor will it necessarily lead to more drugging of the populace. Drug companies are sure to seize on new diagnostic labels to get lucrative indications for their drugs, which they will then advertise to consumers who will in turn request the drugs from their doctors. But that won’t necessarily translate into an increase in diagnoses. Doctors don’t have to render diagnoses when they reach for the prescription pad. Seventy-two per cent of antidepressant prescriptions, for instance, are written in the absence of a psychiatric diagnosis. Indeed, disregarding the D.S.M.’s particulars may be the industry standard. As one D.S.M.-5 committee member told her colleagues at the A.P.A.’s annual meeting in May, “If the clinician’s gut feeling is that the patient has the disorder, it’s appropriate for them to get it [the diagnosis].” The D.S.M.-5 may only provide doctors with a new manual to ignore.

What will change with a revision is the prevalence of specific diagnoses. Come May 22nd, there will surely be more children diagnosed with disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, since that is a category new to the D.S.M.-5. And the prevalence of Asperger’s syndrome will certainly drop to zero, as the diagnosis is being eliminated. But the D.M.D.D. kids are probably already diagnosed with bipolar disorder or some other mental illness, and many of the displaced Aspies may end up on the autism spectrum created for the D.S.M.-5. Adding or subtracting a diagnostic label won’t necessarily change the overall prevalence of mental disorders any more than putting out a new Chevrolet model or eliminating the Oldsmobile badge would change the number of drivers.

The market for mental disorders is already enormous, thanks in part to the relentless effort of the A.P.A. to use the D.S.M. to convince us that our psychological suffering is best understood as diseases that should be treated by doctors. Psychiatrists don’t need any more disorders to expand the market; they only need franchise that allows them to dole out the diagnoses. Doctor or patient, we can all browse the updated catalog just as easily as we could the previous one—and as easily as we can browse Amazon for a book or video.

Of course, there are a couple of differences between G.M. or Amazon and the A.P.A. Cars and books are real, physical things; even by the A.P.A.’s own account, the D.S.M.’s categories are only useful constructs, the best psychiatrists can do until they figure out how to identify and classify mental illnesses in the same way other specialists now identify physical diseases. And the A.P.A., unlike those companies, has a monopoly on its market.

The D.S.M. has enormous impact on the public health. It determines which conditions insurers will cover, which drugs regulators will approve, which children will receive special-education services, and which criminal defendants will be able to stand trial and, in some cases, how they will be sentenced. Psychiatry has already reached far into our daily lives, and it’s not by virtue of the particulars of any given D.S.M. It’s because the A.P.A., a private guild, one with extensive ties to the drug industry, owns the naming rights to our pain. That so significant a public trust is in private hands, and on such questionable grounds, is what we ought to worry about.

IMPORTANT FACTS

1. Studies in numerous countries reveal that between 10% and 25% of psychiatrists and psychologists admit to sexually abusing their patients.

2. Germany reported that 50% of registered psychologists and psychotherapists are unacceptable as practitioners because they have more problems than their patients.

3. The so-called ethics system used by psychiatrists has been universally attacked as soft and inadequate.

4. A 1997 Canadian study of psychiatrists revealed that 10% admitted to sexually abusing theirs patients; 80% of those are repeat offenders.

The real truth about the money paid to Cathal Grant by the drug Companies

“We found out that he gets paid to speak for almost every drug company out there, even if the drugs are competitors. He is out to make the money and it is apparent the way patients are herded through the practice with no regard for the patient’s needs. Beware if he tries to prescribe you a “new” drug on the market, it probably means they are paying him now. “

In our experience Dr. Cathal P Grant MD, Bedford, Texas, does not tell you one big fact that you the patient has and that is Informed Consent, Dr. Cathal P Grant MD, Bedford, Texas, does not discuss this or wants you to know about this, in our experience so he can get you hooked on psychotropic medications so you can do nothing but feed you greed for money, and you do not care at all what you do to the patient’s life.

This video proves what we are saying in our opinion about Cathal Grant’s medical practice, it also shows how Cathal Grant does not want you to have informed consent in your visit with him, and he does not tell you the truth, as the video below shows:

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It was time to upgrade the look and feel of this award winning site, it had been down with another attack two days ago so I decided to do the upgrade to the look now I hope you like it They really do not want the information on this site to be published for the Related posts: In My Opinion Free Speech site was attacked I guess they do not like the truth to be told

It seems like that when you supply the truth as In my opinion free speech does, and you start exposing the drugs, drug companies, and the people responsible for hurting so many innocent people who among many actions, break up marriages and basically ruinin people’s lives and careers by their actions and drugs they use wrongly, and abusively, that when Related posts: In my opinion the drug Cathal Grant is paid by Eli Lilly to push on you if you need it or not, has major issues as told in the article “Suicide and Cymbalta” In my opinion: What’s really behind the school shootings. In tha case of Cathal Grant his patient have attacked members of thier won family, even though the famly members warned his what what going on, all Cathal Grant wants to do is keep people hooked on the drug hie is supplying if they need the drigs or not. In my opinion the truth about the drugs Cathal Grant Prescribes and the facts he does not want you to know: Mental Health Watchdog Launches Psychiatric Drug Side Effects Database—Search All Drug Regulatory Agency Warnings, Studies & Adverse Reactions Reports

Dr. Cathal P Grant MD, Bedford, Texas, is still accepting money from the drug companies , our experience to push the drugs if you need them or not. Payments: At a Glance 566 payments $210,057 payment total Rank: 8 out of 1,268 doctors in this specialty and state Drugs & Devices Totals listed below account Related posts: In my opinion a release Eli Lilly: Lying is the Best Defense The drug company who pays Cathal Grant (Cathal Grant’s total payment $151,474.00 since 2010 by all drug companies) to give you medication you may not need In my opinion a report: Psychology Professor: Grief and anxiety are not mental illnesses; People need help & understanding not labels & medication, but Cathal Grant will label you and give you drugs if you need them or not, all he wants is the money for office visits, and credit with the drug companies for the drug he has perscribed and hooked you on they have paid him $151,474.00 since 2010. In my opinion asks the question: Why Must Everything Be a Medical Condition? ADHD prescriptions soar 50% in six years, In Cathal Grant’s case he getd patients hooked on these drugs for nothing more than he own personal gains and his payment by the drug companies to increse thier profits by prescribing these drug if you need them or not.

Dr. Cathal P Grant MD, Bedford, Texas, is still accepting money from the drug companies which brings his total to $151,474.00 since 2010, our experience to push the drugs if you need them or not. Source: Pro Publica Cathal Grant keeps in our opinion increasing his wrongful prescribing of drug these patients do Related posts: In My Opinion SSRI Tragedy a Real Risk, and Cathal Grant does not care what the drugs he prescribes to you does, all he is interested in is the money he collects for the 2 to 5 minute office visits and what the drug companies pay him to push their drugs In my opinion News: Media Ignores Real Story in Conn School Shooting, and Cathal Grant keeps prescribing the same class of drug that has caused these incidents, caring for nothing but his office visit fees In my Opoinon Report on Cathal Grant Prescriber Checkup The Doctors and Drugs in Medicare Part D, the time Cathal Grant spends with his patient 2 to 5 minutes is not enough time to do a proper diganosis, just to push drugs on unsupecting Medicare and other patients, like the drug companies pay him to do if they need the drug or not in our experience Cathal Grant a true legal drug pusher

Dr. Cathal P Grant MD, Bedford, Texas, is still accepting money from the drug companies which brings his total to $151,474.00 since 2010, our experience to push the drugs if you need them or not. In our experience the facts below prove Dr. Cathal P Grant MD, Bedford, Texas, is doing what he paid Related posts: In my opinion: When it comes to Anti-depressants, it appears profit, not benefits, outweigh the risks and Dr. Cathal P Grant MD, Bedford, Texas practice is for nothing but profit his profit , he spends only 2 to 5 minutes with each patient so he can make the most profit by seeing the maxium number of patients each day and it is the patients who gets hooked on these drug in his practice when they do not need these drug at all. In my opinion a Documentary: The Drugging of Our Children, and Cathal Grant will drug you children, not because they need it only so he can get them hook on the drugs for more profit for him and the drug companies who pay him to push their drugs In my Opinion: Top psychiatrist: ‘We are turning childhood into a disease’ all for the prifit of Cathal Grand and the drug companies who pay him to get prople hooked on these drugs